Changing things up a little bit...

I pray that everyone had a wonderful time with family and friends celebrating our savior's birth. I hope your Christmas was filled with peace and joy, and not too much fruitcake...

Jenny and I are at the Infusion center again today, but we made an important decision regarding treatment options: today's visit to the infusion center will be remarkably short because we have decided to stop the chemotherapy medicine and just have Jenny do a maintenance treatment of avastin. 

We spent some time this morning discussing options with Jenny's oncologist, and we all agreed that we would try the avastin only for a few sessions here and then do another MRI later in January or early in February to see if there is any activity.

What this means is that the length and side effects  of the treatments are substantially lessened ( the time in the infusion center should go from 4-5 hours to 1-2 hours) and the side effects should be minimal, so, that is all good.

We had a very nice Christmas, it was nice and quiet with all of the kids at home for a couple of meals. 

Thank you all for your continued prayers.

Our best hopes confirmed - The Duke Visit

We have just finished up our visit at the Duke Cancer Center - it is a very impressive facility, with wonderful caring people - a evidence of God's grace. We learned a lot in our conversations with the specialist here at Duke, which has been very helpful. They are a dedicated brain cancer center that has a huge amount of experience with people like Jenny. The really good news is that they don't want to see Jenny back for a while, because she is doing so well and is having clean MRIs. They don't have anything to offer until the tumor starts to grow again, if it does. 

We have a clearer understanding of the future treatment options and will have much to talk about when we have the next appointment in Charlotte, we are really looking at the next year, and what options there will be available to us. Overall a very hopeful and positive trip. 

Thanks for all your prayers. 

Another Clean MRI!

Wonderful news on the MRI! There has been no growth or activity according to the latest scan. We have decided to push the next infusion back a week, so there will be no more infusions before Christmas. We'll make a decision at that point if we should stop the chemo, since the tumor has not shown any new activity, and the maximum amount of time that this particular medicine is tolerated is about 12 months, which we are quickly approaching. What an expression of God's grace that we will be able to enjoy this Christmas together.

Please pray that the results of the consultation with Duke will be clear, and that Jenny will continue to be able to tolerate the Chemo for the last few infusions. 

We are so thankful for the time with the family and the lack of advancement of the tumor. Please take the time during this busy time of year to spend a little more time enjoying those around you and spreading God's love...

We'll let you know about the Duke visit next week.